Acer Stumbles in Europe's NB PC Market in Q2
2011/08/01 | By Steve ChuangTaipei, Aug. 1, 2011 (CENS)--Dampened by its failed distributor inventory strategy, Acer Inc., a Taiwanese PC vendor, saw its overall notebook PC sales drop steeply, yielding its leading status in East and West European markets for notebook PCs to Asustek Computer and HP, respectively, in the second quarter of this year, according to overseas market research bodies.
IDC (International Data Corp.) issued its latest survey report showing that HP commanded a market share of 24% in the quarter, 3.7% percentage points higher than a quarter earlier, in the West European market to unseat Acer, while Asustek Computer advanced to the No.1 spot with a 21.7% share of the East European market.
Market observers indicated that affected by the ousting of its ex-CEO Gianfranco Lanci, who mainly focused sales development in the European market, as well as undigested channel inventories, Acer suffered a 47% sales decline in the West European market in the quarter and posted declined market shares of 17.2% and 20% in the West and East, respectively.
In fact, they added, most notebook PC brands also struggled with slowed sales growths in Europe in the quarter, mainly because of the mounting debt crisis, with only a few, like Apple, still keeping better shapes.
During the same period, however, there was still good news for Acer, which outpaced HP as the fourth-largest notebook PC brand in the Chinese market for the first time since acquiring a Chinese PC vendor Founder Group, indicated IDC's report. Compared to the sagging European market, overall notebook PC sales in China kept growing 18% yearly, or 12.7% quarterly, to 8.19 million units in the quarter.
Noteworthily, the China-based Lenovo has quickly emerged in the global market, as IDC noted that the brand witnessed its notebook PC sales sharply surge 35.6% in the U.S. market in the second quarter, with its market share significantly increasing to 7.5% from 5.7% posted a quarter earlier. Also, the brand reported strong growths in sales in emerging markets.
| Market Shares Recorded by NB PC Brands in West Europe in Q2, 2011 | ||
| Ranking | Brand | Market Share |
| 1 | HP | 24% |
| 2 | Acer | 17.2% |
| 3 | Asustek | 11.8% |
| 4 | Dell | 9.5% |
| 5 | Samsung | 7.5% |
| 6 | Toshiba | 7.5% |
| Market Shares Recorded by NB PC Brands in East Europe in Q2, 2011 | ||
| Ranking | Brand | Market Share |
| 1 | Asustek | 21.7% |
| 2 | Acer | 20.0% |
| 3 | HP | 15.9% |
| 4 | Samsung | 11.5% |
| 5 | Lenovo | 10.3% |